String Faculty

Yuan Lu

Associate Professor of Double Bass
Director of Chamber Music

A renowned double bass artist, Yuan Lu currently serves as Double Bass Professor at TCU and artistic director of the TCU International Double Bass Festival. Over the past few years, hundreds of reviews, newspaper articles, and magazines have praised him as "a master virtuoso of the double bass."

Lu has won numerous national and international competitions, including first prize in the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Solo Competition and the 16th annual Corpus Christi International Young Artists Competition. A long-time member of the San Antonio Symphony, Lu is a frequent recitalist, clinician and chamber music artist throughout the world. He has presented masterclasses at many of the world's most prestigious universities and conservatories, including the Julliard School, Peabody Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Northwestern University, Arizona State University, the University of North Texas, University of Hartford, the Shanghai Conservatory, Beijing Central Conservatory, the China Conservatory, Shenyang Conservatory, and Sichuan Conservatory.

Professor Lu has given recitals and masterclasses as a guest artist for the International Society of Bassists Conventions in New York City, Interlochen, Houston, Oklahoma City, San Francisco, Rochester, and Colorado. Additionally, he has served as a jury member for a number of international double bass competitions, and as artistic director of the 1999 Texas Double Bass Symposium in San Antonio, the 2009 Texas Double Bass Symposium in Fort Worth, and the TCU International Double Bass Festival. He also serves as the director of Chamber Music at the TCU School of Music. Prior to joining TCU, Professor Lu served on the faculty of Baylor University.

A pioneer of Chinese artists, Lu holds the distinction of being the first Chinese double bass recitalist to perform in China. Subsequently, he has performed as a soloist with various orchestras on major television and radio programs in China. In the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra's 130-year history, he is the only featured double bass soloist, including a live, televised debut in 1996 and a sold-out double bass concerto performance in historic Shanghai Concert Hall in 2009. He has also performed with the Grand Teton Summer Festival Orchestra, and served as principal bassist with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chinese Virtuoso Orchestra.

Recently, Lu performed a duo concert with Gary Karr, and a joint recital with the late pianist José Feghali for the world premiere of Shanghai Legend by Robert Garwell. This special live broadcast concert reached more than 60 million viewers/listeners live and was streamed online throughout the world.

Throughout his career, he has worked and been associated with many of the world's leading artists including Zdenek Macal, Josef Gingold, Sergiu Comissiona, Larry Rachleff and prominent bassists such as Gary Karr, Stuart Sankey, David Walter, Paul Ellison, David Neubert, Ed Barker, Timothy Cobb, Eugene Levinson, Homer Mensch, and Francois Rabbath. Critics have acclaimed him as "a leading double bass virtuoso, a unique world-class performer."